
Politics and Poetics
The Legacy of Frances E. W. Harper
Melba Joyce Boyd(Author)
Wayne State University Press
2nd Edition
Will be published approx. on 21. July 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-0-8143-5308-0 (ISBN)
Description
Analyzing the writer as an activist and feminist who helped shape the Black women's movement.
Frances E. W. Harper was a pioneering figure in nineteenth- and twentieth-century African American literature and intellectual thought. A poet, educator, lecturer, essayist, and novelist, she played a key role in the abolitionist and feminist movements, particularly in shaping the Black women's movement. Despite her influence, her work has remained largely overlooked.
In Politics and Poetics, Melba Joyce Boyd explores Harper not only as an activist but as a writer deeply embedded in the African American struggle for "freedom and literacy." Boyd examines Harper's poetry, novels, and speeches through the lenses of race, gender, and class, tracing her radicalism across three periods: the abolitionist years, the pursuit of freedom, and the woman's era. Harper's feminist voice remains strong throughout, particularly as she critiques both slavery and the racism within white feminist circles. Boyd's analysis combines biographical context with thematic and structural insights, illuminating how Harper's art and politics merged to create a powerful, enduring legacy.
Frances E. W. Harper was a pioneering figure in nineteenth- and twentieth-century African American literature and intellectual thought. A poet, educator, lecturer, essayist, and novelist, she played a key role in the abolitionist and feminist movements, particularly in shaping the Black women's movement. Despite her influence, her work has remained largely overlooked.
In Politics and Poetics, Melba Joyce Boyd explores Harper not only as an activist but as a writer deeply embedded in the African American struggle for "freedom and literacy." Boyd examines Harper's poetry, novels, and speeches through the lenses of race, gender, and class, tracing her radicalism across three periods: the abolitionist years, the pursuit of freedom, and the woman's era. Harper's feminist voice remains strong throughout, particularly as she critiques both slavery and the racism within white feminist circles. Boyd's analysis combines biographical context with thematic and structural insights, illuminating how Harper's art and politics merged to create a powerful, enduring legacy.
Reviews / Votes
"Frances Harper was not an ordinary woman, and this is more than a biography. It is, as Boyd writes, a 'resonance of resistance, confronting the cryptic irony of human history.' It is a significant act of retrieval, recognition, and recourse." - The Black Scholar"Highly recommend for all those who appreciate unearthed history and current works of African Americans and the Reconstruction era." - Library Journal
"[This book] may alter forever how we evaluate this much-misunderstood author and how we approach women writers more generally." - Women's Review of Books
"Thorough research accompanied by carefully and concisely written text by Boyd illuminates the accomplishments of this remarkable woman. The end result of this critically important work is that Harper was thinking and working far ahead of her time. Boyd increases the wealth of information that has only existed in obscurity." - Copley News Service
"This is a valuable contribution to American literary and cultural studies. Boyd's scholarship enriches our knowledge of a major African American writer and activist." - Journal of the American Studies Association
More details
Series
Edition
Second Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Detroit, MI
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
467 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8143-5308-0 (9780814353080)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition

Book
06/1994
Wayne State University Press
€31.40
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Melba Joyce Boyd is a poet, scholar, editor, essayist, and filmmaker. She is the current poet laureate for the state of Michigan and was named a 2023 Kresge Eminent Artist. Boyd is Distinguished Professor of African American Studies at Wayne State University. She is the author of thirteen books, nine of which are poetry collections. Her publications have earned two Michigan Notable Book awards, an Independent Publisher Book Award, and an Honor award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, and have been named finalists for the NAACP Image Award in Poetry and for a Foreword Book of the Year Award.